Double port heat exchanger plate



June 7, 1960 J- A. WILDERMUTH DOUBLE PORT HEAT EXCHANGER PLATE I 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 4, 1955 I NVENTOR. ZhIIZQSBYQ @zhezvzmfi June7, 1960 J. A. WILDERMUTH DOUBLE PORT HEAT EXCHANGER PLATE 5 Sheets-Sheet2 CHEM Filed Feb. 4, 1955 IN V EN TOR. 'Jazzzes' Q ig/zfa ermuzfi June7, 1960 J. A. WILDERMUTH 2,939,636

DOUBLE PORT HEAT EXCHANGER PLATE Filed Feb. 4, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet s 2.8i 6 7 Wm" 'IN V EN TOR.

any

United States Patent DOUBLE PORT HEAT EXCHANGER PLATE James A.Wildermuth, Little Falls, N.Y., assignor to Cherry-Burrell Corporation,Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. '4, 1955, Ser. No.486,063

2 Claims. (Cl. 257-245) My invention relates to a heat exchanger platewith a double port and has reference more particularly to plates of thischaracter provided with auxiliary flow passages'which permit a heatexchange medium to flow through a selected series of plates and backfrom a midpoint in a plate assembly withoutprovision of a terminal unit'at that point.

Heat exchangers of the type to which my invention relates are disclosedin-DalzellPatents Nos. 2,281,754 and 2,610,834 and in Newhall PatentsNos. 2,619,329, 2,621,- 028, and 2,639,126.

Heat exchange plates of this character are usually of rectangular shapewith ports in one or more corners. The surfaces of the plates areusually embossed or otherwise configured to provide flow-disturbing,heat exchange surfaces; and both the heat exchange areas and the portsare bordered with gaskets to hold adjacent plates apredetermined'distance apart in liquid-tightrelation.

A number of such plates are interposed and compressed in face-to-facerelation between a fixed end member and a movable end membeigthe portsand gaskets of the successive plates being so arranged that a pluralityof flow'paths are provided through selected ports to predeterminedspaces between plates. Thus a liquid to be heated or chilled-such asmilk, for example-may be channeled through the fixed endmember andaligned ports 2,939,686 Patented June 7-,v 1960.

invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a double ported corner of the. plate shownin Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view of a series of heat exchange plates and end members,the plates being separated to show gasketing and fiow paths; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a heat exchanger of the type to which myinvention relates, showing the support.- ing structure for the heatexchange plates.

Referring now to the drawing, the heat exchange plates towhich myinvention relates are designated generally bythe reference'numeral 10and are of substantially rec,- tangular form as shown in; Fig. 1. Eachplate 10 is pro-. vided at each end with centered notches 1l, andarcuate slots 12 adjoining said notches 11.

Theplates 107are so designed that either notch 11 may be at the bottomand such notch 11 in that position is designed to rest on a supportingrod 7 (Fig. 5) the notch 11 at the top then serving to straddle analigning rod .8. corresponding to the supporting rod. The slot 12 atthe. top of the plate 10 engages an auxiliary rod 9 which cooperateswith the aligning rod 8 to permit tilting theplates 10 out of positionfor cleaning. The rods 7, 8 and 9 are carried by suitable supportingmeans such as that shown in Fig. 5.

The heat exchange surfaces of the respectiveplates 10 are provided withsubstantially hemispheric embossments or knobs 13 which serve thepurposes of providing a flow disturbingsurface across which the liquidto be cooled to aspac'e between plates, then through other aligned portsto the second space therebeyond, and so on to the movable end memberwhere it is discharged.

correspondingly, a heat exchange medium such as v heated or chilledwater is circulated through the fixed end member into a flow pathbetween heat exchange plates similar to but alternating with the flowpath of the milk. Thus each layer of milk between adjacent heat exchangeplates is sandwiched between two layers of heat exchange medium.

Frequently, it is desired to use two heat exchange media, such as tapwater for preliminary cooling of previously heated milk, and chilledwater for final cooling. For this purpose, it has heretofore beennecessary to provide a centrally located terminal block to provideoutlets for the respective heat exchange media flowing to said terminalblock from the fixed and movable end members respectively.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a heat exchange plateadapted for use in conventional press type heat exchange apparatus butdesigned to permit return flow of heat exchange medium from a selectedintermediate location in an assembly of plates thus obviating the use ofa costly intermediate terminal block.

It is a further object of my invention to enhance the adaptability ofheat exchange plates to various applications at low cost and withoutreducing the available heat exchange area by providing double ports incertain locations, these and other objects being accomplished ashereinafter described, reference being had to the accompany ingdrawingsin which must flow, affording more heat exchange area, and spacing theplates apart. To accomplish the latter purpose, the'knobs 13'.may bearranged in asymmetrical pattern but sufliciently ofli center so thatwhen alternate plates are inverted, the knobs 13 of one plate 10 bearagainst an uneinbossed portion of the next adjoining plate 10."Each'pl'ate 10 is provided with a plurality of, gasket grooves, therebeing lengthwise grooves 14 along each side of the heat exchange areacontaining the knobs 13. intersecting diagonal grooves 15 are providednear the ends'of's'a'id grooves 14 to define the wedge-shaped ends ofthe heat exchange area. Similar diagonal gasket grooves 16 are spacedfrom said grooves 15 and communicate with the tangential extensions ofrelatively arcu ate grooves 17 to enclose substantially triangular portspaces 18. The grooves 14, 15, 16, and 17 are interconnectingso that anyselected gasket pattern may be applied to each plate 10.

The gaskets are strips of rubber or neoprene or other suitablecompressible material having a base 20 adapted to be seated andpreferably secured by means of some adhesive material such as athermosetting plastic in the gasket grooves 14, 15, .16, and .17. Thetops of the. gasket strips 19 are rounded and serve to bear against theunder side of the groove channels of the next adjacen-t plate 10.

In accordance with my invention, one of the port spaces 18, such as thatin the upper right hand corner of the plate 10 shown in Fig. 1, isprovided with two separately gasket-ed ports, a primary port B and asecondary port A, each indicated by dotted lines, with a divider groove21 therebetween, which groove 21 preferablydoes not extend in eitherdirection as far as the respective tangential extensions of the arcuategroove 17. The divider groove 21 is adapted to receive a gasket strip 22which extends in sealing relation between gaskets 19 in the tangentialextensions of the arcuate groove 17;

The plates 10 are normally formedby stamping sheet metalsuch asstainless steel or the like in the embossed form as shown in Fig. 1 butwithout punching out any of the port spaces. Particular port' spaces arepunched 7 3. out at the time a group of plates 10 are being set up.Thus, in practicing the present invention, when the arrangement of aparticular plate assembly has been worked out, each plate has certainport spaces 18 and ports A, and B punched out to provide for thepredetermined-flow pattern, and the plates are then gasketed to providefor flow from opposed ports across the faces thereof and also to sealoff certain ports to ,by-pass certain spaces between plates Referringnow to Fig. 4, I shall describe the flow in a typical plate arrangementwherein my double port plates are used. The separation of the plates inFig. 4 permits convenient viewing of the port and gasket arrangements ofthe successive plates and the flow pattern therethrough.

The fixed end member is designated by the reference numeral 23 and isprovided with a milk inlet, a well water inlet, and a well water outletas shown. At the opposite end a movable end member 24 is provided,containing a milk outlet, a sweet water inlet, and a sweet water outletas shown. The term sweet water, which is well known in the dairy andheat exchanger industries, refers to ice-chilled water which is used asa cooling medium in the place of brine. Sweet water can be cooled onlyto the temperature of ice and not below. For this reason it is ideallysuited to chilling milk since itcannot be cooled sufficien-tly to freezethe milk. Brine, on the other hand, is usually cooled to a temperatureconsiderably below the freezing point of water and, if used to coolmilk, would tend to freeze it along the heat exchange surfaces.

Well water is used for preliminary cooling of the milk as it passesthrough the first group of plates, while the sweet water is the mediumwhich provides the final cooling of the milk as it continues to flowthrough the remainder of the plates.

Well water is introduced into the plate assembly through an inlet 25 inthe fixed end member 23, the inlet 25 being opposite the non-portedupper right corner of plate No. 1. Said non-ported corner of plate No.1, the heat exchange area thereof, and port A of the doubleported lowerleft corner of said plate are surrounded by a gasket which serves tochannel well Water from inlet 25 across theface of plate No. 1 to port Athereof.

Plate No. 2 has a double port in the lower left corner, port A thereofbeing gasketed so that well water passing through port A of plate No.,lgoes directly through port A of plate No. 2 to plate No. 3. The latterhas a lower left corner adapted for double porting, but the port A areais not punched out, said area being surrounded along with the heatexchange area of said plate and a punched out port in the upper rightcorner thereof by a gasket. Thus well water passing through port A ofplate No. 2 is channeled across the heat exchange area of plate No. 3and out through the port in the upper right corner thereof.

The port in the upper right corner of plate No. 4 is gasket surroundedso that well water goes directly therethrough to plate No. 5'. Thelatter has the port areas in the upper right and lower left cornerssurrounded along the heat exchange area thereof by a gasket so that wellwater passing through the upper right corner port of plate No. 4 passesdownwardly across plate No. 5 to the lower left corner. From that point,the well water passes back through gasketed ports B in the lower leftcorners of plates Nos. 4, 3, 2, and 1, respectively, to the outlet 26 inthe fixed end member 23.

It will be understood that except for the ports B in the double-portedcorners of said plates, as contemplated in my invention, a conventionalterminal block would have had to be provided at plate No. 5 to providean outlet for the well water. By virtue of said double ports, however,the well water passes back to the fixed end member 23 for discharge.

From the movable end member 24 at the opposite end of the plateassembly, sweet water is introduced through inlet 27. In a preferredarrangement, the sweet water passes through aligned ports B of platesNos. 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7, respectively, to the space between plates Nos.6 and 7 where it passes downwardly to the lower left corner of plate No.7. The port in the lower left-hand corner of plate 8 is surrounded by agasket sothe sweet water passes through the space between plates Nos. 8and 9. Since neither lower corner of plate No. 9 has a port formedtherein, the sweet water then flows upwardly across the heat exchangesurface of plate No. 9 to the only port communicating with said surface,port A in the upper right hand corner. Port A in the upper right handcorner of plate No. 10 is enclosed by a gasket so the sweet water flowsthrough plate No. 10 to the space between plates 10 and 11, passingdownwardly over the heat exchange surfaces thereof and through the portin the lower left-hand corner of plate 11. The sweet water then flowsout through the sweet water outlet 28 in the end member 24.

Milk is introduced into the plate assembly through the milk inlet 29 inthe fixed end member 23. The milk then passes in the conventional mannerthrough a flow path that carries it through alternate heat exchangespaces, that is on a flow path between plates Nos. 1 and 2, then betweenNos. 3 and 4, then between Nos. 5 and 6, thenbetween Nos. '7 and 8,andthen between Nos. 9 and 10 from which space it passes through theports in the lower right corners of plates Nos. 10 and 11 to the milkoutlet 30 through which it is discharged from the plate assembly.

'It should be understood that the arrangement of plates and portsdescribed herein and as shown in Fig. 4 are merely illustrative of thevarious types of flow patterns and plate arrangements which are madepossible by my invention, and While I have shown and described myinvention in this illustrative form it may be practiced in a variety ofways and with a variety of products and heat exchange media withoutdeparting from the spirit of my inventiomthe scope of which is to bedetermined by the appended claims. V M

1. In a plate-type heat exchange apparatus of the class described, thecombination of plate supporting means, end members movable relative toeach other and having fluid inlets and outlets therein, and at least tensubstantially rectangular corner ported heat exchange plates mounted instacked relationship on said supporting means and adapted to be engagedbetween said end members, two of said heat exchange plates positioned inthe series next adjacent one of the end members having primary andsecondary ports located in one corner, and two ad ditional heat exchangeplates positioned in the series and spaced one plate from the otherendmernber having primary and secondary ports located in one corner,said ten plates being arranged in series to form three separate fiowpaths, the first flow path being through an inlet in one of said endmembers, through a port in one corner of the first plate in said series,through the space defined by surfaces of the first and second plates inthe series, through aligned cornerports in the second and third platesin the series, through the space defined by surfaces of the third andfourth plates in the series, through aligned corner ports in the fourthand fifth plates, through the space defined by the surfaces of the fifthand sixth plates in the series, through aligned corner ports in thesixth and seventh plates, through the space defined by surfaces of theseventh and eighth plates in the series, through aligned corner ports inthe eighth and ninth plates, through the space defined by surfaces ofthe ninth and tenth plates in the series, through a corner port in thetenth plate, and through an outlet in one of said end members, thesecond flow path being through an inlet in one of said end members,through the space defined by surfaces of said end member and said firstplate, through aligned secondary ports in corners of said first andsecond plates, through the space defined by the surfaces of secand andthird plates, through aligned corner ports of said third and fourthplates, through the space defined by surfaces of said fourth and fifthplates, returning through aligned ports in corners of said first fiveplates, including the primary ports of said first, second andthirdplates, and through an outlet in one of said end members, the

' third flow path lbeing through an inlet in one of said end members,through aligned corner ports of the tenth, ninth, eighth and seventhplates, including the primary ports of the tenth and ninth plates,through the space defined by surfaces of the sixth and seventh plates,through aligned corner ports in the seventh and eighth plates, returningthrough the space defined by surfaces of the eighth and ninth plates,through aligned secondary ports in corners of said ninth and tenthplates, and through an outlet in one of said end members.

2. The plate-type heat exchange apparatus of claim 1 in which saidprimary ports are generally triangular in shape and said secondary portsare elongated in shape and located adjacent one side of saidtriangular-shaped primary port.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,197,118 Astle Apr. 16, 1940 2,229,306 Prestage Ian. 21, 1941 2,428,880Kintner Oct. 14, 1947 2,610,834 Dalzell Sept. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS55,829 Denmark Feb. 13 1939

